Soldier Not Guilty Of Rape, Judge Says

Accuser's Story Lacked Details

YORK — An Army private was acquitted Thursday of raping a Newport News woman who told police the man offered her a ride, displayed a gun and forced her to have sex.

Circuit Judge Fred W. Bateman said the defense attorney's cross-examination of the accuser had "created a great deal of doubt" about her claim. "I am not persuaded by the evidence," Bateman said.

While questioning her, defense attorney Michael King expressed skepticism that a woman walking alone on a Newport News street at 2 a.m. would stop to talk to a man she didn't know, observe that he had a gun and decide to get in his car.

"I guess I had a little fear," the woman responded, "but I figured it would be OK. That was my bad judgment."

Later, Bateman told defendant Malcolm A. Logan, 22, a truck driver in the 100th Transportation Company at Fort Eustis, "The court finds you not guilty."

Relatives, friends and co-workers - including 18 witnesses subpoenaed in his defense - congratulated Logan outside the courtroom, where he also got a tearful embrace from his mother and fiancee.

"I want you all to say that I'm innocent," Logan said, adding that he is considering legal action against the woman who brought the charges. "I felt like I was degraded."

The accuser testified that she walked to a gas station a couple of blocks from her house to get a soda and talk to a girlfriend about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 13. She said she was walking home when Logan, whom she did not know, drove by in a Jeep and honked, then stopped and asked if she needed a ride.

According to the woman, she refused the offer, pointing out that she lived nearby. She noticed that he had a gun sticking out of his waistband. He said he was going to a party at the apartment complex where she lived.

But instead of taking her home, the woman said, the man drove to Yorktown Beach, where he raped her and forced her to perform oral sex. King, the defense attorney, also questioned the woman in detail about exactly what happened during the sexual assault, questions she often responded to by saying she could not remember specifics, such as where his hands were at certain times or when he pulled his pants down.

In his experience, King argued to the judge, rape victims recall "every detail" of the crime. But "this young lady would have us believe that she can recall nothing but the vaguest generalities."

Logan admitted having sex with the woman, King said. But, he added, it was consensual, and she flagged him down that night after having an argument with her husband.

"The system really works," King said after the verdict.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Phyllis Evans declined to comment on the verdict. The accuser could not be reached afterward.